Khmer Rouge

American  

[kmair roozh, kuh-mair] / ˈkmɛər ˈruʒ, kəˈmɛər /

noun

Khmers Rouges plural

1. a Cambodian guerrilla and rebel force and political opposition movement, originally Communist and Communist-backed.

2. a member or supporter of this force.

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Khmer Rouge British  

/ ruːʒ /

noun

1. the Kampuchean communist party, which seized power (1975) in a civil war: in exile since 1979, dispersed in 1999

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Khmer Rouge Cultural  

1. The communist movement in Kampuchea (Cambodia) in Southeast Asia. It came to power in 1975.

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Led by Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge, after it came to power, instituted one of the worst examples of genocide in world history. Estimates of the number of people killed under this regime vary from two million to four million.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Khmers Rouges
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Khmer Rouge

< French Khmer (or Khmère ) rouge literally, red Khmer

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Khmer Rouge

Thailand welcomed Cambodian war refugees to the border area after the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime fell in 1979.

From Barron's ● Feb. 7, 2026

Their guide in the slums of the capital was Sothea Arun, a slight and soft-spoken man who says he lost his parents and many family members to the Khmer Rouge.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2025

After Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1978 to throw out the murderous Khmer Rouge regime, it was isolated and sanctioned by China and the West, and depended heavily on Soviet assistance.

From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2024

The Khmer Rouge still posed a military threat into the late 1990s, and much of the early coverage focused on that conflict, aided by a multinational staff and freelancers.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 1, 2024

Her faded black Khmer Rouge pajama clothes hang loosely on her thin body as her back bends over the garden.

From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung